


Quincy Eye

by ozomin



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Friendship, Ichigo develops his quincy powers too, Ichigo explores the limitations of his powers, M/M, Multi, Other, Other tags to be added in the future, Tags will be added, additional pairing and tags will be added as i get to them, after chapter 685, idk i'm trying to answer the many questions i have concerning the ending, idk they've always been an ot3 of mine and once that ending went down i knew it was my time, idk where this will lead me but i do have a loose outline, if didn't know im still salty, im sure the fix it fic tag is poppin', oh rating is subject to go up once it's finalized, the power of the quincies, there's so many tags im overwhelmed, uryuu deserves the world and all the friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:20:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7989988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozomin/pseuds/ozomin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bleach after chapter 685, Ichigo wakes to a crumbling post war soul society and just like everyone else, must navigate what's left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quincy Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!  
> 

Ichigo wakes up wide eyed, still afraid he's still in the middle of battle, his hand scrambling for Zangetsu's hilt. It takes the latter half of a minute for him to take in the gentle dim of what he assumes is the morning. He's lying prone on a futon that's almost too soft.

His arms, his legs, his torso are bandaged tightly, he feels a few taut strips across his cheeks, his chin.

Spotting Zangetsu leaning up against the adjacent wall, the sharp tip pressed but not puncturing the tatami mat beneath it, gives him instant relief. Next to Zangetsu is another katana, plain looking in its clearly unreleased form.

As he regains faculties, the second reiatsu in the room smacks him awake. Simply laying eyes on Renji's limp form next to him on a neighboring futon raises panic in his throat.

One of his arms is bandaged in a sling across his body, his torso is just as covered, just as damaged as Ichigo's.

"Renji!" Ichigo reaches out, splays his fingers across the expanse of his collar, feels his chest rise steadily and deflate with breath, he feels his heartbeat faint beneath his palm.

The panic ebbs.

It's not enough to wake him, but Ichigo would rather him rest anyway.

Sifting through Renji's reiatsu reveals yet a third energy. But it's one that sends him sprawling, one that renders him pliant and exhausted. Rukia's sitting right outside the door.

A moment later, it shifts open. She's always been attentive to any shifts of his and probably Renji's reiatsu too. Rukia's eyes are still sleepy dark, Sode no Shirayuki is in her hand, as if she'd fallen asleep with it in her grasp.

He draws in a shuddering breath, he hasn't seen her properly in who knows how long. He grips the blanket covering his legs to avoid reaching out to her, like a child missing his mother, like a man missing a piece of himself.

"Ichigo?" She's in such an honest disbelief that an ache blooms in Ichigo's chest and he realizes he's forgotten to count how long it's been since she's been that close to him. Rukia comes forward, closes the door behind her. "How are you feeling?" Her eyes are tender.

Ichigo's soften in return, his lids heavy from the sudden loss of adrenaline. "Rukia--I--" he shakes his head, "better than I thought to be honest," he chuckles, it sounds suspiciously like a sob. "Where's Chad? Ishida? Inoue?"

Rukia quiets him with an uncharacteristically gentle smile, "They were all recovered, they're safe in the fourth division tired but well."

Ichigo hangs his head low, he can see Rukia clench her fist like she's stopping herself the same way he did. But she's always been so much stronger, so much more courageous. Her hand is small but warm on his cheek, she draws his sight back up. Her other still clenched fist pressed gently to the middle of his chest.

"Idiots, the both of you. You're lucky I can't actually punch you right now," her voice is choked, it's her turn to hide her face, she rests her forehead against the angle of his shoulder.

Rukia's fist melts there against his skin, her palm still against his heart. "I thought you two could handle yourselves--if you both had died I would have killed you there myself." Rukia's laugh is watery.

The panic ebbs back. She feels him stiffen beside her. Rukia promptly looks up at him with concern on her parted lips, a question sewn into the furrow of her brows.

"What about Yhwach?" His throat goes dry, his tongue a gritty sand bar in his mouth. "Aizen?"

Rukia sucks in her bottom lip, looking furtive. "Whoever was available of the twelfth moved in as soon as possible." She pauses, clearly bothered, "Aizen was taken in but they couldn't find any trace of him. It's already hard enough as it is to piece together what happened,"

Ichigo can see the apology forming on her lips so he shakes his head.

"There's no point worrying about it, I'm just glad we're okay. That the both of you are safe too,"

As far as safe goes.

"You're right," Rukia nods her head, conviction returning in waves, "we're either in the clear or we can become better prepared should something happen,"

She's got the right idea, but Ichigo's still floundering, still afraid. Can he really become strong enough to protect everyone he cares about without the help of someone else?

Rukia reads him with amazing accuracy, even takes care in her little cuff at the back of his head, "Stupid, I won't let you do it alone if that comes to pass--and don't you dare decide my position for me."

"I won't either," croaks Renji from Ichigo's other side. Both of them quickly shift to get better looks at him. Rukia leaning across Ichigo's body, one of her arms over his outstretched leg.

Renji's awake, eyes narrow and dark, there's a good natured smirk on his lips, stretching the tape that covers a cut at the corner.

"Remember, you've got the lifetime deal kid," he closes his eyes once more. A slow blink as he fights to keep them open, he wants to see them both. "The estate huh?"

Rukia immediately shades red, "The fourth needed as much space as possible, they're stretched thin as it is-- I thought with both Nii sama and me here, you'd be better protected--"

Renji laughs a broken laugh, "Captain protecting me huh? I never thought I'd see the day,"

He's clearly joking but Rukia still feels the need to add, "Of course he does," She looks from Renji and back to Ichigo, "Renji's right, you won't be alone in this Ichigo. Let us help you."

Ichigo's eyes prickle, but no tears fall. Instead he nods his head, eyes wide like a child. "I know I can't stop you."

"Damn right," Renji mumbles, he closes his eyes again.

Noticing just how lethargic Renji is, Ichigo gives Rukia a pointed look. She immediately stands, "Maybe some food will help, I could bring some before I have to leave."

"Worth a shot," Ichigo replies as his stomach gurgles, obviously piqued. Rukia's disappeared before he's finished talking.

"You good?" Renji says quietly, breaking the silence and making Ichigo jump.

"Rukia'll come back with some food." Ichigo snorts, "where did the stamina go old man?" he quiets, watching Renji shift up onto an elbow to look at him better.

"Busy keeping your slow ass from dying," Renji jokes, looking down at his bandaged arm.

Ichigo smiles, still averting his eyes, "I'm fine." he tries to steel himself but Renji chuckles.

"It's alright, I won't force it out of you. Just understand that feeling this powerless is just part of the deal. Just remember that next time, next time--" Renji's voice hardens, "Damn it, next time we won't be."

He thumps the futon with his fist. Ichigo feels a strange validation in Renji's anger because it's his too.

Rukia chooses that moment to slide the door open once more. She's got a small basket hanging from her arm.

"Hopefully some food will help," she says effectively cracking the tense atmosphere in the room.

It's not difficult for her to see that the two of them are taking it so hard. But it is difficult to see them take such a big loss.

Rukia watches Ichigo halve the bread and pass one half of it to Renji, it's gone in the blink of an eye.

Renji hadn't really given much attention to his appetite until the food hit his tongue and stars burst behind his eyes.

Ichigo accepts the jug of water Rukia's nudging against his forearm, once again pulling in half in a matter of seconds before passing that to Renji as well. Renji rolls onto his back, gulping down the rest, his hair spread wildly across the pillow, red threads on white cotton, an unorthodox embroidery. Some of the water trickling down his cheeks, he pulls the jug down and wipes the water away with the back of his hand.

Rukia's staring at them both with a mix of morbid curiosity and affection when she suddenly remembers what time it is. She stands so abruptly the two of them immediately look up at her.

If it was any other time, she could get used to being treated like the center of their world. But this is something else.

"I have to go," she says, expression clearly stating she would rather be here with them. She sighs, but she doesn't mind. "Every available shinigami has their hands full with soul regulation, collateral damage removal not to mention the displacement of hundreds from their living quarters and the countless looking for survivors--"

"You go," Renji stops her with a hand, "we'd gladly help," he says sincerely, "but I've got a busted arm and Ichigo's busted everywhere else. Don't worry, for perhaps the first time, there will be little to no wandering. We'll be here when you get back. You got that?"

"Yeah, I guess that could be taken as soothing."

"Rukia," Ichigo pipes up, "if you could, could you--if you see the others I mean--could you tell them that we're okay?"

Rukia takes the time to search his eyes, "Of course," she pauses, "oh, speaking of the fourth, if I can get a hold of him that is--I'll send over Hanatarou for a healing session," both of them nod in acknowledgement and then Rukia's gone, sliding the door back into place with an expression that looks more apprehensive than usual.

Renji slips between wakefulness and wonder. Asking Ichigo, "What do you think it's like out there?"

Ichigo shrugs before lying back down on the futon. "It's probably worse,"

"Worse before it gets better huh?"

Ichigo nods slightly but he doesn't think Renji catches it, or is even looking at him.

"We should be helping. With the soul regulation at least." He leaves it at that because he's simply too guilty to directly mention the loss of the Soul King, the so called linchpin between worlds. Ichigo resolves to ask Rukia about it once she comes back.

Renji breathes out a laugh, "Easier said than done. My back hurts like a bitch, I swear more and more each year, the age is really catching up to me."

"Shut up," Ichigo slaps him across the shoulder, an act of levity.

Rukia shows up towards the end of the day, long enough the room has begun to dip into darkness. Ichigo lights one of the oil laps in the corner while Renji tries to stay awake. Her kosode is dusted with dirt, a little smudge beneath her eye which comes off as a half-hearted attempt at changing one's appearance to resemble a raccoon dog.

"Hanatarou wasn't in the forth, he had been reassigned to the direct relief squad with one of the search groups, it wouldn't be right to just pull him away from his work."

She's once again holding that wicker basket in the crook of her elbow.

"I asked the servants to leave this quarter alone." Rukia says sitting down between their two futons. With the upper corners of their futons touching, they create the sides of a triangle with enough space between them Rukia can sit equidistant from the both of them. She pulls out three bowls, a small clay pot still steaming of rice and another taller pot with more depth out of the basket.

It's soup today, taro and spinach boiled in broth with the addition of fish meat. They thank the spirits above for the food and dig in.

Renji chews a mouthful of rice slowly, "What's happening out there Rukia?" He asks, "What has Captain been doing without me?"

Rukia sips at the broth in her bowl. "Right now we're still in recovery effort. Finding those unaccounted for, accounting losses, both casualties and collateral. Anyone who's left is in overhaul, sent to the twelfth division to help regulate souls through. The central 46 has been tasked with finding a new Soul King. They haven't said much but everyone knows they're looking at noble families and high ranked officers from the judicial branch."

"I don't know who wants to take that job," Renji frowns, "but even I can see what's currently happening is unsustainable unless we graduate as many students from the academy as fast as possible to keep up with the work load."

Ichigo feels cold climbing down his skin, racing down his veins, freezing and stopping the blood rattling through him. "Do you think they'll find one?" He asks even though he almost can't bare to hear the answer despite it being necessary to know it.

Rukia blinks twice, "They'll find one. They have to or the Soul Society will crumble beneath it's own weight."

Ichigo feels his chest compress down like it's trying to suffocate him from the inside out.

He wants to apologize for all of it. Even though he knows they won't blame him for it, even though he knows Renji will probably just crack a joke about it and they'll move on.

"...Nii sama and the others have been ordered to protect the perimeter until the gates are closed. Vice captains are doing what they can to prevent any unnecessary chaos. They're closing the gates by tomorrow night at the earliest. No one in or out until they deem the situation under control." Rukia looks back at Ichigo, "You should know that Sado, Ishida, and Inoue plan to leave beforehand. I'm sure Nii sama could get you through too if you--"

"I'm staying." Ichigo says immediately. "I'll stay as long as I have to. Not until we're sure all of us are safe." A conviction he hasn't felt in the last 48 hours bubbles up his throat.

"Alright," there's the echo of a small smile on her lips. "Let it be known now that the moment you're able to, you'll be put to work, we need as many hands as possible."

"I'll do it," Ichigo says swallowing.

The conversation lulls easily after that, in which they finish off their rice and dregs of broth. Rukia gathers the dishes back into the basket before smoothing down her wrinkled front. Renji sort of points to his cheek when Rukia happens to glance at him, indicating the dirt smudge she has. Rukia wipes at it with the tips of her fingers not before slapping him harder than necessary in the gut.

"Don't, I'll really vomit--"

"Why didn't you tell me when I first got here?"

Ichigo outright laughs for perhaps the first time since waking up at the estate in the first place. He experiences a rush of affection for them both. His stomach flutters, warm and full and not just because he drank hot broth.

Rukia wishes them a good night, she'll check in on them in the morning before she leaves to once again take on her duties as vice captain.

"Rukia," Renji says stopping her at the last moment. "You should be getting restful sleep, don't worry about us, sleep in your own room tonight."

Ichigo doesn't know where this is coming from but he nods along in agreement.

"Aren't you considerate?" Rukia smirks. She sighs, "all right, keep any shenanigans to a minimum, Nii sama will have you work regardless of injury if he catches you doing anything."

"Yeah, yeah." Renji waves his hand flippantly. Rukia disappears properly before they can catch her exaggerated eye roll.

Renji's status is definitely improving even if he falls asleep five minutes after Ichigo blows out the lamp. His snore is leisurely and loud enough Ichigo stows his head beneath his only pillow in hopes of relief. Not to mention Renji's reiatsu is jumping in leaps in bounds, slip sliding against Ichigo's as equals, just like before.

The next morning Ichigo wakes to Renji sitting up, the morning lighting up his hair like fire as he pulls an elbow back. Then the other, stretching for the first time in two days. The blanket is pooled around his waist.

The planes of Renji's stomach are solid and strong, rippling beneath tight bandages. He lets out a low heady sigh, still thick with exhaustion. Renji reaches behind him, gathering the cascade of hair over his shoulder and begins braiding it.

Ichigo watches a little enraptured through crusty eyes.

"You're gonna have to pay if you keep this up," Renji's tone is smug.

"Shut up," Ichigo roughly pulls the covers over his head. Even turns around and faces him with his back for added measure.

"Rukia come yet?" He says slightly muffled beneath the blanket.

"Not that I know of." Renji replies.

Ichigo hears the shuffling of fabric and figures he can turn around again. Besides, Renji probably doesn't care either way.

Ichigo settles on his back before pulling the covers away from his face. When he opens his eyes, Renji's standing. He's near the window, his body wrapped in a flower embroidered yukata, pale pink with shaded tiger lilies along the sleeves, tied loosely around his waist.

"There's one here for you too," Renji tosses it to him despite the lack of acknowledgement. It lands squarely over Ichigo's face.

Ichigo simply sighs in resignation before sitting up himself. He too finds each muscle tough and taut. Ichigo begins the same round of stretches Renji had done before slipping his arms through the sleeves. His is a plain dark blue and it's easy to see where Renji's comfort really lies.

"You think Rukia's alright?"

Ichigo shrugs, truly unsure. "Maybe something came up? Everyone really is busy."

"That's true. Just thinking about it is making me restless. Rukia will kill me if I just leave--" Renji chews his bottom lip.

Ichigo nods, he has a feeling he would be similarly treated should he make an reckless decision.

The Kuchiki estate is almost on the outskirts of the Seireitei, a stone's throw from the first district where other higher ups and lower ranked nobles tend to reside.

It's quiet, even edged with stone for privacy. They spend the day tempering their ever increasing reiatsu and gauging limitations.

Ichigo touches Zangetsu's handle and feels a strange melancholy emanating through his fingertips. Zangetsu stays silent. Ichigo promises to take the time to really listen and pry him back into existence. Renji's sitting cross legged on his futon again, Zabimaru lying across both knees. His eyes are reverent, thoughtful even. He's murmuring but Ichigo can just make out the words of pride that spill forth. How he's proud of how Zabimaru fought to protect all of them.

Ichigo sidesteps out of the room, shifting the door closed behind him to give Renji some privacy. Zangetsu still inside as well.

He's only out for a matter of ten minutes. The house is the sort of quiet Ichigo could never get used to. He's used to his father shouting and his sisters squabbling. He's used to louder than life friends that still want him to hang out with them.

Ichigo only runs into two other people in the halls, both servants, they have little spiritual power, easy to disarm should he not be thinking about his reiatsu output at any given moment. He asks them if they could to bring them some water. They back off just as fast, more than happy to.

Ichigo sits down on the bare floorboards, without his shoes, he can only look at the expanse of garden. He lays his feet down on the uppermost step and crosses his arms.

He'll be out there too soon enough. He doesn't want to blame himself for all this destruction, but is hard not to. It's difficult to be rational in such an irrational scenario. A scenario where the Soul King of all people has been dispatched despite the protection of divison zero. Ichigo hopes they're all okay too but he doubts he'll be able to visit any of them any time soon. No more wartime lack of formality and all that.

Yarrow with its red petals and Mugo pine bristles edge around carefully placed stone, the circles and swirls are indents in crumbles of stone two sizes bigger than sifted sand. Regardless of the off season, a cherry blossom, clearly the focal point of this particular garden reaches up and over the stone of the enclosure, pale pink petals drifting down, light as feathers, piled around its roots.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," the voice is more expectant than anything he's heard recently, but he can also hear the scratch of surprise beneath it.

Ichigo turns his gaze down the hall where Kuchiki Byakuya sweeps towards him, captain's robe catching the air behind him like a cloud made of fabric.

"...Byakuya," Ichigo lets his astonishment show in the parting of his lips. "I thought you'd have left already--"

"Unfortunately, a certain form escaped my attention," Byakuya frowns, "time wasted..."

Ichigo never thought of him as the type to bring the paperwork home with him, but circumstances permitting, everyone's mind is probably flooded with an endless list of tasks that keeps the daily operations running as smooth as possible.

"Oh," Ichigo looks down at his arm then, feeling helpless once more. He rubs one of his bandaged wrists, apparently the whole forearm was fractured throughout, everything might have shattered to pieces had he been forced to continue fighting.

"Kurosaki, you should do well to heal. The Soul Society is still here, perhaps not ideally, but there's still much to accomplish." Byakuya says, "Shame is a poor way to deal with situations such as these."

Ichigo's cheeks heat up, jaw tensing, he turns away. "Renji's doing fine, you should know that." He says seeking to change the subject as quickly as possible.

Byakuya doesn't readily seem in the mood to argue so he lets it go. "It would seem so." Is all he says. His eyes are softer and pleased despite the sober tone. "He too has duties to attend to." With that, Byakuya moves past him to the other side of the hall and out of sight.

Ichigo stays a little longer, however, unable to keep his mind woefully blank, he wanders back to their room.

Renji's in the same spot he'd left him in, hunched almost protectively over Zabimaru which lies in front of him now, sealed and sheathed, the red of the handle nestled against the futon. He doesn't even look up as Ichigo enters. He's staring at Zabimaru like they're having a full on conversation and maybe they are.

Ichigo simply slides the door closed and the silence resumes. He notices the jug of water in the corner next to the lamp, it's untouched.

Renji appears to have finished his conversation because he leans back onto his hands and stretches his legs out, sighing all the while in relief.

"Hand me the water will you?" Renji yawns audibly.

Ichigo snorts before reaching over and grabbing it by the earthen ware handle.

Renji half wishes it were alcohol, even says as such while he takes a heavy pull. "I bet you'd be a funny drunk Ichigo," Renji frowns, pleased with his own observation.

Ichigo's adopts a rather pained expression. "You won't find out any time soon. I've got too many things to do instead of get drunk with any of you guys--" he fronts.

"He's right Renji, the propensity you'd have to do something really stupid is just too strong," Rukia's shaking her head as she enters their room for the first time that day. "Not like it isn't on a normal day though." She smiles in the face of Renji's pout.

Rukia settles down between them like usual, only this time, there's an air of melancholy that quickly displaces the lighter atmosphere.

Renji's pout immediately drops, they both can feel it as if rain has just begun to slip down through the wooden slats, pelting their heads.

"You okay?" Renji's brow furrows, his expression one of concern.

"Rukia?" Ichigo says quietly. They both watch her shoulders relax, she lets out a half-hearted chuckle.

"You two worry too much," she tries to joke but it simply doesn't land. She sighs heavily. "It's not like I didn't expect it as a possibility--" she squeezes her eyes closed. Clutches her fists tight above her knees. "My captain--" Rukia breathes.

That's all she has to say for it to click in their minds. Renji reaches out a hand, gives her shoulder a comforting squeeze but doesn't remove it afterward. Ichigo states at his own hands, if only briefly; yet another casualty of this war.

"He meant a lot to you," Ichigo stares at her fist, small fingers and white knuckles. He wants to comfort her, reach out and touch her the way Renji does so effortlessly, without hesitance.

So he does.

With a hand that's trembling perhaps as much as she is, Ichigo grasps her other shoulder and holds fast.

Rukia nods, eyes watery.

They speak in hushed tones for the rest of the evening.

"..There wasn't even a body to recover." Rukia chews her lip in frustration. "Captain Commander presumed him dead when he couldn't feel anything--" Rukia looks down at her clenched fists. "His guidance was invaluable. The Thirteenth is now without it's captain," Rukia shakes her head, "at a time like this no less."

There's nothing either of them can say that will help the situation so they keep quiet. They let Rukia say whatever it is she has on her mind. As much as they are in it together, they are in it with her just as well. Just as completely.

Renji grunts in frustration. "I'm alright now-- Ichigo is too--we're going out there to help. You need it Rukia."

Rukia pinches the bridge of her nose. She chuckles despite the pain aching in her chest. "No, you guys should still be resting--"

"Rukia--" Renji starts.

Ichigo furrows his brows, purses his lips. Rukia's stayed strong in the face of both of them collapsing, the ensuing chaos of the Soul Society, even the loss of her own captain. She's been helping them recover for the past three days and they've only just now begun to hear her own worries, her own concerns.

It's their turn to help her.

"What can we do?" It's a genuine question but it still sounds rather helpless to Ichigo's ears.

"Things are still rather hectic, I won't lie to you about that. But more or less, we've got the hang of regulating all these souls while central 46 still deliberates. What we don't have a hang on are the results of this loss. Captain Commander as well as Captain Kurotsuchi have warned us about fluctuations in the movements of both wholes and hollows. Wholes are being passed through faster and faster, but still not at the pace of the Soul King, it's causing a back up and hollows are beginning to both gather here and in the human world."

Renji jumps at the chance, "Can we do anything about that?"

"Captain Commander Kyoraku plans to piece together two different offense squads. One will be sent to the world of the living to combat the potential influx of hollows while the other will be stationed in the Rukongai controlling the hollow population there."

"We can do that." Ichigo says immediately. "We're ready now."

Rukia pats his arm. "I guess so." they both take her lack of fight to heart. They'll do whatever it is if it helps alleviate the pressure on her, on everyone else.

"We'll get the Soul Society back on track. As long as it takes. All of us." Renji's still hoping that won't be too long.

"It shouldn't be too long. I've been informed that by the time those gates open, we will have a new Soul King." Rukia says.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not know how often updates will appear considering i'm working on a whole bunch of things at the same time but they shouldn't be too long between :) *sweats*  
> I'd love to hear feedback/any questions :)  
> oh im on tumblr too tetsuyakvroko @tumblr  
> I'm always there and im always ready  
> give me encouragement


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